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News from Abroad                                                                                                                                                                  News from Abroad


       CURTAILED AMBITIONS                                                                                           CLOSING THE LOOP
       Orlen scales down key petrochemical project                                                                   Covestro setting up pilot plant for recycling

       as costs balloon                                                                                              of elastomers


          Polish  oil and  gas  company  Orlen                               “This is the best one of the bad           German  polymer  fi rm,  Covestro,                                Covestro’s Elastomers business entity.
       has decided to cut down its biggest petro-                         decisions we could make,” Orlen’s CEO      has announced plans to invest a “dou-                               Covestro customers use Vulkollan sys-
       chemicals investment after construction                            Mr. Ireneusz Fafara told a press confe-    ble-digit million euro” amount to build                             tems to mould parts for many applica-
       costs jumped more than six-fold, down-                             rence. Its revamped plan, dubbed “New      a pilot plant for recycling of elastomers                           tions with a high demand for durability
       sizing the project to one based largely on                         Chemistry”, sets the total cost at 34-bn   at its site in Leverkusen, Germany. The                             and performance. Typical applications
       already built infrastructure.                                      zlotys, down from 45-51 bn zlotys          construction is estimated to take about                             for parts made of Vulkollan are wheels
                                                                          expected previously, Orlen said in a state-  one year until technical completion.                              for forklifts, bumper elements  in rail-
          The decision comes amid a review                                ment. The company will use already-built                                                                       ways and vibration  control  elements
       by the state-controlled company’s new  break with its predecessors who were  infrastructure to pursue a new ethylene   The plant will seek to scale the tech-                     and jounce  bumpers in cars. Due to
       managers as they seek to rein in spend-  routinely accused of focusing on political  unit, which is set to start operating no   nology to recycle the company’s Vulkollan  paving the way for the development of a  the high yield of the recycling process,
       ing planned by their predecessors, who  goals.                     earlier than 2030, six years later than    branded  elastomers. The  technology  larger commercial recycling plant in the  end-of-life  Vulkollan materials can
       turned  Orlen  from  an  oil  refi ner  and                         originally planned.                        could help to not only recycle a mass  future.                      be re-introduced into new automotive
       retailer into a sprawling national energy   Begun in 2021, costs of the petro-                                fraction of more than 90% of the end-of-                            jounce bumpers and forklift tires via a
       champion with side businesses such as  chemicals project were on course to   The company added that the revamp   life material like forklift tyres, but also   “With the successful scale-up of this  mass balancing approach.
       running newspapers.               reach six times original estimates with  will free up 15-bn zlotys for investment   to reduce the carbon footprint by up to  new recycling process we address the
                                         the company having spent 12.6-bn zlotys  that  will  help  the  refi ner  increase  its   two thirds compared to virgin material.  demand of our customers for end-of-life   “The new chemical recycling pro-
          The new management of Orlen, ap-  ($3.10-bn) as of the end of September.  competitiveness. Orlen now plans to hold talks                     solutions and carbon footprint reduction  cess is a game-changer for the elastomers
       pointed after the 2023  parliamentary  The facility was initially seen costing  with contractors in the coming months to   The  pilot plant  will  play  a  crucial  while assuring the high quality of our  industry. Unlike mechanical recycling
       elections, has pledged to respect minority  8.3-billion zloty. Delays have prompted  lay out a revised timetable for the project,   role  in  refi ning  the  recycling  process  elastomer products. At the same time,  methods, this approach breaks down
       shareholders as well as focus on profi t-  several write-downs and a state audit  with a new schedule and budget to be   beyond lab scale, testing the process with  this pilot plant is an invitation for players  elastomeric end-of-life material into its
       ability and core operations, making a clean  revealed heavy losses.  published by the end of next September.  various waste streams and with various  along the value chain to cooperate on  chemical building blocks, to obtain puri-
                                                                                                                     end-of-life materials. It will also serve as  developing a circular setup and the  fi ed  monomers  that  can  be  re-used  for
       BATTERY MATERIAL                                                                                              a platform for Covestro to engage with  reverse value chain for end-of-life mate-  these materials with known and proven
       Rio Tinto plans $2.5-bn investment in Argentinean                                                             potential project partners and customers,  rials,” stated Dr. Thomas Braig, Head of  quality,” the company said

       lithium project                                                                                               PROJECT UPDATE
                                                                                                                     Emirates Biotech licenses Sulzer technology

          Global metal and mining giant, Rio                              effl uents,  and  produces  lithium  car-
       Tinto, has approved $2.5-bn to expand                              bonates more consistently than other       for its UAE polylactic acid project
       lithium carbonate production at its                                methods.
       Rincón de Salta project in Argentina,                                                                            Middle East bioplastics fi rm, Emirates                                  in a press note. Emirates Biotech
       the  company’s  fi rst  commercial  scale                              Rincon’s mine  life  is  expected  to   Biotech, has announced the selection of                                    will leverage Sulzer’s PLA tech-
       lithium operation.                                                 be 40 years, with construction of the      Sulzer as the technology provider for its                                  nology to manage all production
                                                                          expanded plant scheduled to begin in       upcoming Polylactic  Acid (PLA) pro-                                       steps from a single location, in-
          The development follows the com-                                mid-2025, subject to grant of permis-      duction plant in the United Arab Emirates                                  cluding lactide production, puri-
       pany’s acquisition of US-based Arca-  effl uent facilities, along with its asso-  sions. First production is expected in   (UAE), touted to be the largest of its kind                    fi cation and polymerisation. The
       dium Lithium in a transaction worth  ciated infrastructure. The total produc-  2028 followed by a three-year ramp   globally.                                                            facility will also use lactic acid,
       $6.7-bn.  The deal had made Rio the  tion capacity is 60-ktpa of high-quality  up to full capacity, the company said                                                                     a plant-based feedstock, to pro-
       world’s third largest miner of lithium,  lithium carbonate for batteries.  That  in a press note. Rio  Tinto’s CEO,   The facility will be constructed in two                            duce PLA bioplastics at scale,
       used extensively in electric vehicle  fi gure includes an initial 3-ktpa plant  Mr. Jakob Stausholm, said, “This invest-  phases, each with a capacity of 80-ktpa,                        positioning the Middle East as a
       batteries.                        and a 57-ktpa expansion plant.   ment alongside our proposed Arcadium       resulting in a total production capacity of  climate change, this volume of bioplastic  key player in the bioplastics industry.
                                                                          acquisition ensures that lithium will      160-ktpa.                         material is enough to replace approxi-
          The Rincón project involves the   The project uses direct lithium ex-  become one of the key pillars of our                                  mately 3.2-billion plastic bottles and will   The plant construction is set to com-
       extraction of brine through a series of  traction (DLE) technology, a  process  commodity portfolio for decades to   “Supporting regional and global  reduce CO  emissions by over 300,000  mence in 2025, with commissioning
                                                                                                                                                                2
       production wells and processing and  that helps conserve water, reduces  come.”                               efforts to combat plastic pollution and  tonnes annually,” the company informed  scheduled for early 2028.

       154                                                                 Chemical Weekly  December 24, 2024        Chemical Weekly  December 24, 2024                                                              155


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